October Journal Entry
 

I decided to implement the lesson Sequencing It with my class.  The first thing we did was to discuss fairy tales as a form of Children's Literature.  Several children shared their favorite fairy tale.  I then told them of the Cyber Exchange Project and that some teachers had completed a project on Fairy Tales.  I let them select which fairy tale for the class to read together.  I used this lesson for an English lesson.  It's amazing when I turn on the large screen TV and pull a lesson up from the Internet.  It always commands automatic attention to the subject!! 

We scrolled through the Grimm's Fairy Tales and selected "City Mouse, Country Mouse" to read together.  Volunteers read the fairy tale orally.  We completed this as a large group activity instead of working in cooperative groups due to the fact my printer is not working.  If we could have printed off this fairy tale for each cooperative group or let the cooperative groups have computer time to select their own and print off to complete the activities on sequencing, I think there would have been even greater participation.  After we had read the fairy tale orally, I found that in doing the sequencing steps, 2 or 3 students left out events and wanted to jump to the ending of the fairy tale. 

I want to expand this activity and do another fairy tale utilizing these additional ideas: 

1) work in cooperative groups; select a fairy tale of greater length for enrichment; select one of shorter length and varied activities for reteaching of sequencing so those students for those who need it. 

2) use in my Title I Reading class; other skills to emphasize could be characterization, point of view. 

I really enjoyed this activity.  This activity on the Internet is a good one, and one that I will use again!

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November Journal Entry

I selected two Internet projects to use with my class this year.

The first project is GeoGame.  We completed the necessary data to compete in this game and e-mailed this data to the GeoGame coordinator.  The clues about our town, Dandridge, Tennessee, will be used by other schools across the world to identify our location, and we will use given clues to match the information with the correct location of the listed cities.  We plan on marking the locations of cities we locate on a world map on the wall.  We look forward to participating in this project.

We signed up to participate in Classroom Pet Exchange as our second project.  We have received our assignment to exchange classroom pets with a 5th grade class in Canada.  They are anxious to send us their moose because it's moose hunting season in Canada!  We are sending them a bear so it will be able to spend the winter with them.

The students are excited to have these opportunities to use the Internet.
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December Journal Entry
My class is working on 2 Internet Projects at this time.  The first one is through GeoGame.  We have downloaded all the sections for the game from the Internet.  The class has been divided into small cooperative groups in which to work together to find the clues.  One group has matched all the clues to the cities correctly and turned them in for input on the GeoGame website for posting on the winners' list.  All groups have a deadline of December 17th to complete their assignment.

The second Internet Project, Classroom Pet Exchange, will start at the first of next year since we have had difficulties with e-mail exchange with our exchange class.

Last month I found a interesting language arts lesson plan on the Internet (http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/Lang_arts/Writing_comp/WCP0003.html).  "Auto-Bio Poem" was a way to present poetry in a different context--the students analyzed themselves and wrote an eleven line autobiopoem.  I used Microsoft Word and wrote my autobiopoem as an example; then I read it orally to them as they read it on the large screen TV.  Then each student wrote his/her poem for input on the computer.   They loved this project!  After several had completed theirs, one student said, "Mrs. J., this is poetry."  Then another student said, "But it doesn't rhyme."  So the class learned two things, each one can write poetry, and poetry doesn't always rhyme.
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January Entry 

My class is excited about our Classroom Pet Exchange Internet Project.  Our classroom pet is a stuffed animal named "Dipstick", an adorable dog.  The class has fallen in love with him!  We voted on his name; his name was selected because it looks like his white tail has been dipped in black ink.  We have completed letters to our pen pal class in Canada about our pet and hope to exchange him with their pet this week.  In one student's letter, he said, "I've never been much interested in stuffed animals, but this one is different."  It is amazing to see the interest this little pet has generated.  I can hardly wait to send him on his journey and to receive the exchange pet from Canada!

I have also signed up to participate in a Science Internet Project called Kit and Kaboodle.  It is a project recommended by Dr. Mary Ball of Carson-Newman College through a workshop I attended 2 summers ago, "Virtual Watershed". 

Over the Christmas break, I was able to take Dandridge's laptop computer home.  It was really great to work on it at home and to become more familiar with some of the programs loaded on it. 
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February Entry
This past month one of our student Cyber Ambassadors, Drew, came into my classroom to help us learn about the software "Sim Isle".   Drew was in my classroom last year; his parents had purchased this particular piece of software for our room.  My students were very interested in learning how the program ran, and they saw the impact of their decisions immediately on this simulated island that is being developed.   It is very interesting to see how their wrong choices, such as clearing off too much land, or the overdevelopment of a section leads to poor environmental choices resulting in loss of animal and plant life.  We are having a Scholastic Book Fair at our school this week, and the technology section is a popular section!  We will be using the Cyber Ambassador again with new programs that are purchased.

Our class has had several Internet contacts with our Class Pet Exchange class from Canada.  Their classroom pet, "Chocolate the Moose", is on its way to our classroom and our classroom pet, "Dipstick the Dog", is on its way to Canada.  The students are very excited about this project.

We participated in an Internet project I read about in the "Instructor" magazine this month.  To commemorate Cyber Hunt on Black History Month, the children were paired together and given a research project to complete.  There were about 12 questions asked with the web address given where the answers could be found.  They loved this project!  All of the teams found the answers within 24 hours!

Another Internet project that has been successful is one that the students use to complete word searches.  The http address is puzzlemaker.com.  The students are going to the site and making word searches for their Spelling words, Science and Social Studies vocabulary.  It is a very popular activity.

In connection with our Science unit on Currents and Coastlines, the students are using the Internet to locate information on this subject.  They found an art project for the construction on Mangrove trees.  One corner of our classroom will become our display area.

I am excited about the way the students are responding to technology.  I believe they realize the value of technology, and the vast knowledge that is available at their fingertips.
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April Entry
This past month our Cyber Ambassador, who was in my classroom last year as a 4th grader, came into our classroom to help us again with becoming familiar with software.  His parents had purchased Sim Isle for our classroom last year, and he became an expert utilizing it.  The students enjoyed his demonstration, and we look forward to becoming more familiar with this software after State testing.

My classroom web page has been set up, and our technology trainer is scheduling a classroom visit to help us.  Our goals are to work on this project the first of May and use throughout the month.

Technology has made a difference in my classroom.  The students are becoming confident in their use of software, they have learned to use search engines to find needed information, and every day, many students request to stay in during recess to work on the computer.  That's not typical for 4th graders!  It amazes me to watch their progress on computers.

We have had several Internet projects.  Currently, we are working on "The Great American Egg Hunt".  The students are furiously trying to find the eggs which leads to answers for questions…several schools across the country have answers on their Web sites, so the students are learning first-hand about other schools, and how to narrow their searches in order to find specific information.  I have not completed one of my projects, "Class Pet Exchange"…I probably had too many things going on at the same time.  At this same time we were hatching eggs in the classroom, so I let some things slide.

Next week we will begin using some NASA sites on the Internet as we incorporate technology into our Space Unit as we plan our annual overnight 4th Grade Field Trip to the U. S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

This year has been exciting due to greater technology use in my classroom.  Several parents have purchased computers for their homes; I believe this is because the children have had positive hand-on experiences with computers in the classroom.  In fact, when I checked my e-mail following Spring Break, I had 5 messages from students waiting for me.  I think that's pretty neat when students think of their teacher during a vacation!  I look forward to completing this project and hopefully being a part of any follow-up projects.
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May Entry
The Internet has had a far greater impact on my class this year than it ever has.  We were involved in several projects…some examples are one on geography through GeoGame, one during Cyber Hunt on Black History week, and one called "The Great American Egg Hunt".  In the GeoGame project, each cooperative group worked on a particular set of clues.  I was surprised at how many groups found all the clues for their section!  It seems that if a group is working on a project cooperatively, and if the project involves the Internet, there is greater participation and collaboration among the students.  I have found excellent resources on the Internet that ties in 100% with state objectives.  It enhances the curriculum to have these resources available for classroom teachers.

One of the lesson plans I found online was linked through our county site.  The students created an Auto-Biopoem using a prescribed form.  When the biopoem was completed, it was made into a booklet.  This booklet contained vivid descriptions of each student in the classroom, written autobiographically.  I have also used online lesson plans that our Cyber Exchange class created.  This is a wonderful resource for busy teachers!

The class has enjoyed learning about email.  When we studied Tennessee, we decided to email Rep. Michael Williams and ask him to come speak to us about state government.  He responded to our email, came and spoke to our entire 4th Grade and gave our school about 90 Blue Books!  That  was a direct link to state government and meeting someone who was elected to state government from our senatorial district.  When our Practicum student left, she gave us her email and we have communicated with her all year.  Three of my students have email at home and communicate with me frequently.

I have used Word almost every day!  We have used Word in completing Language Arts lessons (Spelling, Reading, Writing, English).  Our class newspapers have used Word; recently, the 4th Grade of Dandridge Elementary went on an overnight field trip to Huntsville.  I used Word to send out all communications regarding our trip.  I used PowerPoint to create presentations, especially in Language Arts. 

I am still working on my web site.  I have plans to get it up and running by the end of the year and to use it next year.  Class newspapers have been a part of our communication between home and school.  We learned how to download pictures from the Web and thus make our newspapers more interesting.

Every monthly training session has been followed immediately with implementation of training in the classroom.  We have had the tools to use to make this program successful.  When we had a monthly training session  on how to use Office '97 and create a class newspaper, we had the software to do it.  There was a direct correlation to our training and the implementation of our training in the classroom.  That was a major benefit!  Also, I believe that our training was up-to-date and focused on helping us achieve the state objectives in our teaching.  The objectives have been the same, just now we have new tools for meeting them.

I was able to take  home the laptop provided through the project for two weeks and learn about using it.  I hope to use it more next year as I expand what I have learned.  Having access to a laptop at our school enables the Cyber Exchange teachers to work on projects at home.  That definitely is beneficial and helps us with time management!

I had recommended one of my students last year as a Cyber Ambassador.  He was able to come into my classroom a few times to go over new software.  One CD that he demonstrated to us was SimIsle.  Due to his full schedule, we were not able to have him as an ambassador as much as we would have liked.

My reading curriculum has been enhanced through the use of technology in several ways.  I have used technology to read interactive stories, to work on WebQuests looking for specific information, to participate in Web projects, and through student usage of Reading/Writing CD's, programs that I have checked out from the Tech Center.

The most beneficial aspect of participating in this project has been the vast knowledge I have received as a member of this project.  Connie Campbell has been an excellent facilitator of information.  The information was presented in a systematic, connective manner, and every thing I have learned has been directly applicable to my classroom.  That's what has been so meaningful--the ultimate benefit is that of the children.  I simply passed on the knowledge acquired to my students, that's the goal of education. 

I shared information and ideas with other teachers--not only 4th grade teachers but others as well-- of sites that I found particularly helpful on the Web.  A fellow colleague in New York also received information about the Cyber Exchange Program.  When I had a Practicum Student from Carson-Newman College, she was eager to receive information on this project and took some of the information to her home county to show teachers/administrators what Jefferson County was doing in the Goals 2000 Project.

It would be helpful for each school to have time at the fall in-service training meeting to briefly share this year's project with other members of the faculty.  For those teachers who have not had much experience using technology, this would be an excellent way to show them what has been completed, and at the same time, give them ideas of how to get started.  Another benefit would be the teachers could see there are fellow teaching colleagues who would be willing to help them in preparing Power Point presentations, finding lesson plans on the Web, doing a class newspaper, and utilizing many technology resources at their fingertips!

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